Former Home Affairs minister Obert Mpofu was yesterday
issued with a warrant of arrest by a Bulawayo magistrate after he failed to
attend court to testify in a case where Ntabazinduna Chief Felix
Nhlanhlayemangwe Ndiweni and his 22 subjects are accused of destroying a
villager’s property.
The alleged destruction of the fence and kraal came after
Chief Ndiweni reportedly ordered a villager, Fatti Mbele, to divorce his wife
for allegedly cheating on him.
Chief Ndiweni’s lawyer, Dumisani Dube, early this year
asked the court to subpoena Mpofu to testify in court following indications by
the traditional leader that the former minister was behind their arrest and had
influenced Mbele to file criminal charges against them.
However, Mpofu, through an affidavit dated July 6, which
was brought to court by his lawyer Byron Sengweni, declined to testify saying
he knew nothing about the matter.
Dube, who is representing the accused persons, sought a
court order compelling Mpofu to attend court after which the latter was served
with the summons.
Yesterday, Ndiweni and his co-accused appeared before
Bulawayo magistrate Nyaradzo Ringisai where the Zanu PF secretary for
administration was scheduled to testify.
But Mpofu visited the court briefly and left, ostensibly to
prepare for the Zanu PF national conference scheduled for Esigodini in
December.
When a police officer made a roll call for Mpofu, he did
not show up and the State asked the court to issue a warrant of arrest.
Meanwhile, Chief Ndiweni told the court that charges they
were facing stemmed from Mpofu’s efforts to fix him after he filed criminal
charges against the Zanu PF official, alleging that he stole his late father
Chief Khayisa’s 200 cattle.
Chief Ndiweni said he reported the theft at Mbembesi Police
Station, but Mpofu, who was then Home Affairs minister, allegedly facilitated
the docket’s disappearance.
Chief Ndiweni and 22 others are denying the violence charge
levelled against them by Mbele.
The court heard on July 26 last year at 4pm that Mbele and
his wife, Nonkangelo Mpengesi, arrived from Bulawayo to find some villagers
standing outside their homestead.
Kimpton Sibanda (72), a village head and two other
villagers, claimed they were ordered by Chief Ndiweni to destroy Mbele’s garden
fence and the kraal.
Sibanda allegedly instructed the villagers to destroy the
fence and kraal. At around 5pm, Chief Ndiweni reportedly arrived and after the
destruction of the property, and allegedly thanked the villagers and threatened
to destroy Mbele’s home if ever he repaired the destroyed property.
The order followed Mbele’s alleged defiance of Chief
Ndiweni’s verdict to divorce his wife after she was allegedly caught having sex
with another villager.
Mbele had taken his wife to the chief’s court over the
adultery act.
On July 26 last year, at 10am, Chief Ndiweni convened a
meeting at Ntabazinduna Hall, where a consensus pertaining to the adultery case
was to be reached.
Chief Ndiweni had given a ruling that Mbele’s wife should
vacate her husband’s home, but she did not comply with the order since they had
resolved the matter as a couple, prompting the chief to order the destruction
of his fence and kraal.
Mpofu has since sued Chief Ndiweni for $300 000 over the
allegations, and the matter is pending. Newsday
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